No Chocolate for Laharl
by CKMel
Summary: It's Valentines Day and a certain demon seems to be rather curious about a certain fallen angel. LAHARLXFLONNE.
1. Chapter 1

_CREEEEEEEAAAAAAAAK._

A young boy crept quietly into the classroom, careful to hold down his bright blue tendrils of hair in order to remain undiscovered. If he was found, who knows what kind of chaos would erupt; after all, the _Overlord _of the Netherworld coming to supervise a class? It sounded almost ethical. Ridiculous!

He found a hiding spot by the cubbies near the back of the class, and crouched behind them, his crimson eyes peering just over the top. It seems that the class was not of his concern at all. "Hmm…" he mused, "What's that stupid love freak up to now?" Wait. Laharl, what the hell are you up to now?

He spied on a familiar young girl, blonde hair, blue—no red eyes. She'd changed a bit since the last he saw her; in fact, she'd sprouted two demon wings to replace her two angel wings. She even had a tail. He nodded to himself. Satisfactory adjustments. The Netherworld was no place for an angel anyway. Her new form was better, more fitting. More _acceptable_. He shook his head. More acceptable? For what?

He jumped at the sound of the mass of children crowding towards the girl. He felt a pang of—… What? A pang echoed deep in his chest. He watched as they grabbed their grubby little fingers at the stupid girl. He felt a malicious smile come across his face as he imaged plucking the fingers from their hands, one by—!

"Now, now everyone," the stupid girl began speaking.

The boy perked up.

"Can anyone tell me what_ special _day today is?" she said in that same, cheerful tone she always spoke in.

He watched as the love freak attempted to maintain order in the class, and snickered a little at her flustered attitude. It seems that she wasn't aware of the fact that demon children are rather difficult to maintain. Stupid girl, what'd she think they'd be like? _Angels_?

"I know, Miss Flonne! I know!" a little demon girl raised her hand up high.

Laharl thought this was getting boring, regardless of how entertaining the girl's flustered-ness and inability to control was. He wondered if Etna was doing anything fun, like torturing the prinnies that work around the castle. He retired from his hiding place and began creeping towards the door.

"It's Valentine's Day!"

He stopped dead in his tracks, and zoomed back towards his hiding place. He didn't feel his face suddenly grow hot; he didn't feel the blush that was slowly appearing on his face. Valentine's Day? What a joke, he thought. But if it was such a joke, why was his interest suddenly revived?

"That's correct, Sandy!" the stupid girl exclaimed joyously. She took a pink piece of chalk and scribbled furiously on the board to reveal, "VALENTINE'S DAY" in giant, bold letters. "It is Valentine's Day! A full day devoted to sharing your love with those you care about!" she giggled.

Laharl gagged.

"Now, does anyone know any typical traditions that occur on Valentine's Day?" She looked almost as if she would hover above the ground in excitement. Her eyes beamed with happiness. Looks like this is the perfect kinda day for a love freak like her.

"I know!" a little boy shouted. He kicked back in his chair, relaxing his feet upon his desk. "The girls all go slave in the kitchen and make delicious chocolates for the boys!" he said confidently, a smug smile spreading across his face.

Flonne wasn't quite sure how to respond, but attempted it anyway, "W-well… I guess that's sort of how it works… But I wouldn't say slaving… Although, it does take a while to make the chocolate, and…" She seemed lost in thought. She contemplated the boy's response.

Laharl's jaw dropped, his eye twitched. He was in shock that she actually took a moment to contemplate the boy's response. Though there wasn't really anything wrong with the response (in fact, that would probably be Laharl's preferred response, if anything), even _he _knew that it was… Well, wrong. Not that he read up on Valentine's Day much, no sir. He didn't know _anything _about Valentine's Day, or White Day for that matter.

… Was White Day ever mentioned?

"Yes! I'm going to say that you're correct, Peter! Girls usually slave in the kitchen making delicious chocolate for the boys to eat!"

How could she say that with such a cheerful face? Laharl groaned silently to himself. She really _was _a _stupid _love freak.

"Pfft. Of _course _I'm right," Peter scoffed. "I'm _always _right!"

Laharl raised a brow at the defiant young boy. He held a fireball in his right hand, aimed and ready to throw when suddenly someone grabbed at his wrist. He quickly extinguished the flame and turned to see a certain pink-haired vassal, smiling mischievously down at him. "ETNA," he whispered harshly. His head whipped back towards the class. Seeing that they were still quite absorbed in their lesson, he turned back towards his vassal. "What the hell are you doing here?" he sneered.

"Oh? But prince, I could ask you the very same," she said in a sly tone. She bent down to his eye-level, a wide smile on her face.

He averted his eyes from her gaze and slouched a little. He should've picked a better hiding spot. "I'm… Just checking the progress of the school. You know, official business stuff," he whispered, quietly this time. He never took his eyes off the floor.

"Oh really?" Etna smirked. She glanced over at the chalkboard, and snickered when she saw the words written upon it. She looked down at her prince and said, with an apathetic tone, "Y'know, Flonne spent a whole lot of time in the kitchen last night… I wonder what she was doing…"

Laharl's ears perked up. He quickly turned his back towards Etna and crossed his arms, stating, "Wh-what do I care what she does?" He fidgeted nervously, unsure of what to say, what to do. This feeling was everywhere, inescapable; and he didn't like it.

"Oh teacher~!" Etna's voice rang, in sing-song.

Laharl twitched and waved his arms furiously at Etna as he mouthed, "GET. DOWN." He pulled at her arm, but her body protested and instead of falling to the ground, she stood… Just… A little tilted to the side.

"TEACHER~!" Etna shouted again.

"Oh?" Flonne looked towards the back of the classroom to see a grinning Etna… Strangely tilted to the side. "Hello Etna! What a pleasant surprise!" Flonne beamed. She started off towards Etna, "What are you doing here today? Going to help with the lesson, maybe? We're discussing Valentine's Day!"

"Valentine's Day!" The children repeated, trailing behind her.

"A day of love!" shouted Sandy.

"A day of slaves!" shouted Peter.

"A day of love slaves!" chimed James, the boy behind them.

"Oh no, no. I'm not here to help with the lesson, but I caught a delinquent child skipping class in the back here!" Etna pointed directly at Laharl with her free hand. He proceeded to send her a piercing glare, his eyes burning bright red… Not to mention his face.

"A delinquent!? Oh dear, we can't have that!" Flonne stepped closer.

Laharl felt his heart suddenly begin to beat faster and faster… A rather uncomfortable feeling. His eyes still beamed up towards Etna, with almost a childish sense of anxiousness. He threw Etna's wrist down and bolted towards the door… But missed. He hit a pillar standing to the side of the door instead, and found himself on the floor once again in a matter of seconds.

"Ng'Ow…" He cupped his face in his hands.

"Laharl!" Flonne's high pitched voice squealed in delight.

He heard her running, maybe skipping towards him. Well, at least she wasn't freaking about how he just rammed his face into the pillar. "Y-Yo," Laharl said, saluting with one hand, cupping his nose in the other. He attempted a cool greeting after his not-so-cool attempt at an exit.

"I'm so glad to see you! I heard you came back a while ago, but whenever I went to visit, I could never find you!" she shouted, at first happily, but slowly her voice became rather distraught. "Where have you been?" she asked.

Laharl suddenly recalled hiding behind the throne.

… Under the table's tablecloth in the dining hall…

… Inside the cabinets of the kitchen.

… How degrading.

"N-None of your business!" he snapped and turned his face away as he crossed his arms. "I had better things to do than come see you, you stupid love freak," he muttered quietly, to make sure his point went across, since she _was _a stupid love freak. He heard nothing. He turned his head and was mortified to see…

A tear-filled Flonne, attempting to hold back the tears with a smile, "W-Well! I-I hope you got all of those things accomplished, Laharl! I'm glad that you're… You're…" She exploded with sobs. "WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAHHHHHHHHHAHHHH!"

Etna slipped out of the room, her mission having been accomplished.

His jaw dropped and he stood, reaching out towards her, but then recoiling back. He couldn't. It wasn't right anyway. Besides, why should _he _have to comfort her? He didn't care at all. He was the one who made her cry. He _wanted _her to be this way.

… Didn't he?

"Hey! You made our teacher cry!" Peter shouted angrily, bearing his fangs.

"Yeah! Apologize! Apologize!" Sandy insisted, stomping her feet firmly on the ground before him.

"Apologize for making our teacher cry!" James shouted, waving a fist in the air.

Of course, none of this fazed Laharl. His attention was centered on the young girl crying before him. He was too concentrated on shutting her up, she was loud. At least, that's what he thought he was trying to do. Shut her up, that is. "S-SHUT UP, ALREADY! STOP BEING SUCH A CRY BABY!"

Surprisingly, she complied. She stopped her tears, and sniffed. "Y-You're right, Laharl…" She turned around and headed back towards the front of the classroom. "I have to keep class going so… So could you leave now, please?"

"Wha?" he almost scoffed. SHE was asking HIM to leave? The Overlord!? Outrageous. Unheard of! He would not oblige! He didn't take orders from _anyone_.

… But then… His feet moved slowly towards the door. He shut it behind him, and his legs suddenly gave way; his back leaned up against the door, as he slid slowly to the ground. He slapped hand over his eyes and sighed.

… What the hell?


	2. Chapter 2

He found himself pacing the floor of his throne room, not quite knowing why. The image of Flonne's tears lingered in his mind—SMACKSMACKSMACK. "Why are you thinking about her!?" he yelled at himself, frustrated. He sighed an exasperated sigh and let his eyes roll toward the ceiling. "… Seriously… I don't get it at all."

"Oh, hey~ Prince~!" He grit his teeth at the sound of her voice.  
Etna skipped towards him; she had her hands cupped around something, and lifted it into the air as if flaunting her possession of it to the world – to Laharl.

"What do _you_ want?" he asked with a glare. He began moving towards his throne and proceeded to take a seat in it, resting arm upon one of the armrests, and his chin upon his hand. His eyes lingered toward the neatly wrapped bag of… Somethings… But he wasn't interested. No, no he wasn't.

"Well, ya see~! I just got back from talking to Flonne about Valentine's Day, and you know what she gave me?" Etna asked slyly, dangling the doily bag back and forth in front of the young, demon prince's eyes, which couldn't help but follow. She drew it back towards her, picked out a piece of chocolate, and popped it quickly into her mouth, holding it before him in her teeth. She leaned forward with it poking out her mouth; he could smell its sweet aroma from his throne. She finally consumed the piece of chocolate and made a contended sigh, "Ahhhh… Now that was some delicious chocolate. I never knew that the humans had such a demonic holiday. I mean, you get chocolate by taking advantage of another person's feelings; isn't that awesome?"

"Yeah, yeah." He pretended to be uninterested, but in reality, he was _very _interested. Flonne had given his vassal a chocolate, but she had yet to give any to Laharl; he deserved more than just a few, he deserved a giant _mound _of chocolate (in his mind, anyway).

"Well if you're curious, last I saw she was in the ballroom handing out chocolates to some of the Prinny guards." That caught his attention. PRINNIES? Prinnies were getting chocolates before the OVERLORD? Absolutely unacceptable. He stood defiantly and took a stance, "I will NOT stand for this. I, Laharl, should have been the first to receive chocolate! I take advantage of Flonne's feelings all the time!"

Etna arched a brow, "… I'm not sure that that's something to be proud about but… Eh. Whatever." She took another chocolate and popped it into her mouth. "Mmmm~!" She enjoyed toying with her little prince, and did her best to hold in her laughter as he marched angrily out of the throne room. "He's too easy."

Laharl exited the throne room in a hurry and began making his way to the ballroom. As he walked, he began noticing similar, pink, frilly, doily bags of chocolates in… Basically everyone's hands. The shop keepers, the random zombies, the prinnies, the item world keeper – EVERYONE. EVERYONE had a chocolate… Except Laharl.

He found himself growing more and more frustrated, his stomps grew louder and louder as he approached the ballroom. Upon hearing Flonne's voice, however, he hid, almost instinctively. She stepped out of the room smiling that stupid smile of hers, "Thank you very much, Mr. Midboss! Enjoy the chocolate!"

SNAP.

"Oh of course, mademoiselle! Anything for you," a 'French' man's voice said suavely. Midboss followed out with his typical disposition, beaming his confidence and superiority complex.

SNAP. SNAP.

"Ooh, these chocolates are divine…" he said, chewing on one loudly. "Although from the rumors I've heard that one only gives them out on today as a form of confession…" he mused, "Could it be that the mademoiselle has…!?"

SNAPSNAPSNAPSNAPSNAPSNAPSNAP. That was the sound of Laharl's sanity. He crept behind Midboss, leaking a dark, evil aura; he was ready to kill.

"Oh? I feel as if someone is watching m—!!!!!" Midboss saw it coming, but couldn't escape.  
What happened to him? Just imagine.

Eliminating Midboss from his world of troubles didn't calm Laharl down one bit. He went back to his throne room, irritated past his limit, but couldn't keep still. He began to reflect on the day's happenings: Flonne's lectures, Flonne's tears, Flonne's giving everyone else the stupid chocolate that he didn't even really want. Flonne. Why her? It was just a normal day for Laharl, so why did she have to invade his mind like this anyway? She wasn't anything special to him.

The door opened, and Laharl looked up to see Flonne walking calmly towards him upon the red carpet. She possessed a different, more serious aura today than usual. He thought that perhaps it was because of his behavior earlier that she wasn't running towards him, flailing her arms like a madman like she usually did. She stopped in front of him.

"Hello Laharl," she said, smiling.

"… What do you want?" He said. Mentally, he punched himself for it.

"Well, I was just… Walking around giving people Valentine's Day chocolate, when I realized that I hadn't given any to you yet…" Emotionally, she punched him. He wasn't sure why, but it made him uncomfortable that he wasn't the first she'd thought of when giving out these pointless gifts.

"I don't need any of that crap." Lies. More lies.

"Oh… But I made you some anyway…" she fidgeted a bit, as if unsure of whether or not to give him her precious gift. She held out her hands, revealing a small box – different from the other packages that she'd given out.

He stared at it intently, wondering whether or not he'd accept; accepting it meant weakness, but not accepting it meant… Well it meant something unsettling. He kept staring until it was suddenly pulled back. He looked up quickly to see a distressed Flonne.

"Ah. I guess you really don't want it then. Nevermind. Sorry I bothered you!" She started off strong, but her voice started trailing off as she backed away from him.

He was a bit taken aback by her response, and was unsure of how to react until he noticed that she had started running off towards the exit. His feet moved on their own, as did his arms and hands as they grabbed at her wrist and stopped her movement. He replied to her look of surprise with a look of insecurity and confusion.

They stood like that for a short while, Laharl holding her wrist and looking down at the floor, Flonne looking down at Laharl. "… I want it," he said, quietly.

"… What?"

"I said I want it. Give it to me," he took the box from her hands swiftly and abruptly turned around to hide his bright red face.

Flonne couldn't help but smile. She suddenly understood him. "Haha, alright Laharl. I hope you like it…"

He struck a pose, sticking his nose into the air, "How could I have been the last person you thought of? I mean, I, the Overlord, should have been the first to receive this stupid chocolate."

"Well, you weren't getting that chocolate, I had to make another" she said, as he began to open his package.

He stopped. "What? What do you mean? I don't get the stuff that they got? Why not!?" He interpreted her message incorrectly. Holding the box in his right hand, he stole a doily wrapped chocolate package from the bag that rested on her arm in his left. "I don't get this one?"

"No! That's not for you! Give it here!" Flonne shouted, attempting to steal it back.

He didn't know why, but he was offended. "Well why the hell not? Is the chocolate you're giving me poisoned or something? You put it in a different box so you wouldn't poison everyone else? You still pissed because of what I said to you earlier today? JEEZ, HOLD STILL!" He managed to keep her at bay as he began opened the doily-package and his eyes widened when he saw what was written on the chocolate-heart: Obligatory Chocolate.

"… That's why that one isn't for you!" she pouted.

He threw the "obligatory chocolate" at her face and quickly continued unwrapping his own little box, eager to see what was inside. Sure enough, when he opened it…

"Non-obligatory Chocolate."

… What? What is _this _feeling now…? Elation? Light? This girl… She sure stirs about a hell of a lot of weird emotions he's never felt.


	3. Chapter 3: Chocolate's Reply Part 1

A/N: Okay guys, so… This is long overdue. I originally started writing this intending on releasing it on White Day, but obviously I'm extremely late, haha… I was still in school, and didn't really have time to be working on it, so I put it on hold, then forgot about it until… Well, now! A lot of people had asked me to write a continuation for the story, so I thought that I would! … Hope that this is a nice surprise for all of you! There's a part two incoming so… Keep a lookout for it! I'll keep you posted!

Chocolate's Reply: Part 1

Days after receiving and consuming it, Laharl realized that it would have been better to go without Flonne's chocolate. All who consumed it found themselves perched over a toilet over the next few days, attempting to ring out the sweet poison from their bodies. For you see, although she had intended on simply adding extra sugar, – to make it 'extra sweet,' in her words exactly – she had actually added Demon's Dust (a prank-poison that caused severe diarrhea for a minimum of three days). The results were obvious.

Still, he couldn't say that he disliked the chocolate, or the idea of receiving it, for that matter. It created, for him, a strange feeling of elation he'd never felt before. He hated himself for that.

"Stupid angel…" he mumbled, pacing the floor in front of his throne. "I should've known that she'd screw up like that." Anxiously and, perhaps with frustration, he tugged at his two, long, antenna-shaped tendrils. "I bet she did it on purpose too… Poisoning the overlord… Her and Etna are probably planning some scheme to take over," his eyes shifted from side to side, suspiciously, wary of yet another 'sneak attack,' as he'd decided to call the chocolate fiasco.

"Well this time, I'LL be the one on the offense…" he chuckled evilly to himself, tracing the edges of a small box he held in his hands.

He'd heard rumors of this infamous 'White Day, 'and had decided to act upon his discoveries. This day was apparently the male-version of Valentine's Day; the males became the gift-givers, almost reciprocating the actions of the females on the 14th of February. From his research, he gathered that traditional gifts included roses, cookies, white chocolate, and other various 'romantic' goods.

Laharl, however, had something else in mind.

He slowly peeled the lid off the corner of the box, peering his eye into the opening he'd created. "Hahaha… She's bound to hate this."

Inside, there was a single, white ribbon. This, however, was no ordinary white ribbon. It was a Mood Ribbon; basically, the ribbon changed color based on the wearer's mood. Simple enough, right? Wrong. Yes, the ribbon itself changed color, but it also had a nasty habit of changing the wearer's hair color along with it.

"She'll look ridiculous… They'll all laugh at her, and she'll be the laughingstock of the castle," the young overlord chuckled mischievously to himself, slowly placing the lid over the box. He was rather pleased with himself. Still, something in the back of his head seemed to shout, 'NO!' He'd been trying to learn how to ignore that stupid little voice in his head, but it was starting to become difficult.

"Laharl!" His shoulders stiffened at the sound of her voice, and he slammed the lid into place, wincing when it nipped at his thumb. "Laharl, are you in the throne room?"

"Crap, crap," he muttered to himself, stumbling around with the box in hand. _Hide it. Hide it._ There was that little voice in his head again. Suddenly, he didn't want to give it to her. Suddenly, he wanted to spare her the embarrassment; he wanted to spare her _feelings_. Why? No matter, he didn't have time to worry about that now. What to do with it? Hide it under the rug? _No, idiot. It's a box. That won't work._

"Laharl!" Her voice grew nearer; he grew more anxious.

"Prince!"

"AH!" he exclaimed, turning abruptly at the sound of Etna's voice calling from behind him. He heaved a sigh, teeth gritted, eyes wide, hand upon his rabidly, beating—Wait. That shouldn't be there. "You idiot. Don't sneak up on me like that," he hissed at her.

"Jeez, what's up your ass?" she arched an eyebrow, leaning towards him in curiosity. Her eyes widened upon spotting the box in his hand and quickly maneuvered beside him, nudging him lightly with her elbow, "Oh-ho-ho! What's this? You turning into a softie, Prince?" She moved closer and whispered into his ear, "Or shall I call you… Lover boy?"

Face turning bright red, Laharl violently slammed his empty hand into Etna's lip-puckering, lash-battering face, squeezed her cheeks together, and pulled it directly in front of his, "SHUT. UP. YOU STUPID BI—!"

"Laharl! If you were in here, why didn't you answer me?" Flonne entered the throne room, a confused look on her face.

As if on command, he released the demon girl's face and whipped his hands behind his back instead, tightening his grip on the small parcel. "WHAT? PFFT. I DON'T HAVE TO ANSWER TO YOU," he shouted, a little louder and angrier than he'd intended. He only knew that, though, by the look on Flonne's saddened face. As she turned to leave he bound forward, "Ahh, hey! Wait a minute!"

"… L-Like I said, I don't have to answer to you but… I was just talking to Etna, and I didn't… Hear you," he stammered out an excuse, his eyes cemented to the floor. He didn't dare look up. For some reason, he didn't like seeing a frown upon her face like he used to when he first met her. He hated it more when it was his fault it was there. "A-anyway!" he gulped and lifted his head to look up at her, eyebrows raised, "What did you come in here for? It better be important."

"Oh!" That smile found its way back onto her face. A weight lifted from his shoulders. "I was just wondering if you wanted to come with me to see Gordon and Jennifer today! They've invited us to a picnic! I'm not quite sure of the occasion, but…" she stepped forward, beaming, "It sounds like a lot of fun, don't you think?"

"… A _picnic_?" Laharl repeated, a hint of disgust in his voice. He'd never actually gone on a picnic, but from what he'd seen of them he didn't like them. Plus, it was all too coincidental – a sudden invitation from _them _to a _picnic _on this particular day? It was probably a part of the humans' White Day ritual; it might give him away. "Naahhh," he rejected the invitation easily, and continued, "It sounds stupid. Besides, I don't want to see that idiot human again. Or his… Big-chested girlfriend." He averted his eyes from Flonne's as he finished with his words.

She twitched a bit at those last UNNECESSARY three words, but chose to overlook them. "Why? I think it would be nice!" she pouted. "We don't even have to bring anything! Jennifer said that she and Thursday would prepare all the food!"

"Good. We don't want a repeat of the chocolate fiasco," Etna mumbled under her breath, receiving a glare from both the angel-girl and the demon-boy. She shrugged. No regrets. Somewhere in her head, a voice told her that she should leave the room – give the 'couple' some privacy. Nah. This was too fun to watch.

"Still not going," Laharl said as he huffed impatiently.

He watched, with stiff shoulders, as Flonne flashed him a disappointed frown, turned, and headed to exit the throne room. She stopped. "Laharl, I thought that you'd changed and opened up just a little. I guess not." Then, she walked out without another word.

Etna whistled. "Ouch. Whaddya gonna say to that Prince?" Etna chuckled as she turned toward her employer, – she'd never call him her master – eager to see him explode, only to see him standing there, in the same position, quietly. "… Prince?"

Change? She didn't think that he'd changed? He fumed. She'd already changed enough of him: his manner of speaking, his level of concern for others, his curiosity towards emotion. That wasn't enough? Now, she wanted him to change his culture. His demonic way of life. No. She couldn't guilt him into this. He wouldn't let her.

He pulled his hands out from behind him and stared at the small box in his hands. White Day. White Day. White Day. What nonsense. How stupid. This was stupid. He threw the box into the wall, forcing it open as it dropped to the floor, the white ribbon rolling out upon the red carpet. He too, then, stomped out of the throne room, forgetting that there was a certain vassal lingering around, who'd probably pick up the box and the ribbon, grin wildly to herself as she became mad with power, and scurry out of the room…

… With some great ideas in her little, pink head.


	4. Chapter 4: Chocolate's Reply Part 2END

(A/N: I am SO sorry that this story has taken so long to reach it's completion...

But at this point, it has finally been finished! :D ... For those of you who stuck through to the end, I truly appreciate it and thank you. I can't believe it's taken a few years to finish this, and I'm sorry that you guys have had to wait so long. Seriously, thanks for sticking with me through the end!

Hope you enjoy!)

Bored and alone, Laharl sat in the throne room, pulling at his long, blue tendrils and releasing them – straighten, recoil, straighten, recoil. Soon, he found himself staring at the door, wondering when that stupid picnic would be taking place. Upset at the fact he was even thinking about it, he darted to his feet and started pacing – stomping – around the floor, muttering to himself. "Why is this bothering me so much? All I did was blow her off. I do that all the time…" he stopped, coming to a 'revelation' of some sort, "Yeah. I'm just blowing off that big-chested broad and Captain Idiot anyway… It's no big deal."

Flonne's face came to mind. He felt his chest tighten, and beat his fist upon it several times. "Shut up, shut up. There's nothing there."

"Oh Prince~!" That voice. That annoying, whiney, manipulative voice.

"What do YOU want?" Laharl turned to Etna with a glare; he wasn't in the mood to deal with her tricks today, and she was _always _up to tricks. "I don't have time for you, I'm…"

"Walking around, talking to yourself in an empty throne room? Yeah. I can tell you're _really _busy," Etna shrugged, rolling her eyes with a smirk on her face. She saw him starting a rebuttal, and quickly intervened, palm in his face, "BUT! I've got some interesting news for you."

The boy arched a brow, pushing her hand away from his face. "What? What is it?"

"Well…" she quickly made her way behind him, placing her hands on his shoulders, "A little Prinny told me that little Miss Lovey-Dovey decided to go to the picnic on her own." He hesitated. She smiled mischievously. He never hesitated. That was a good sign.

"… So? Why should I care…?" he replied quietly, eyes to the floor. He didn't care. He'd told Flonne he didn't want to go, and she'd simply complied with his response; of course she'd go alone. There was no other alternative. Right?

"Well, normally I wouldn't care either," with her hands upon his shoulders, she swiftly twirled him around to face her, smiling – beaming, almost, "But apparently she took the wrong Gate!"

His chest tightened again. BAM, BAM, BAM. Stop. Nothing's there. "What?"

"Well, she was supposed to be headed to meet Captain Dumbo and Jennifer by Vyers Castle so they could lift-off to the picnic spot or whatever from there…" she began, but was interrupted by an impatient young man.

"Where did she go?"

He looked serious. Another good sign. "Oh, I don't know. I think she took the Gate to the Stellar Graveyard," another shrug, another smirk. "Man… The demons over there can be _pretty _vicious, don'tcha think, Prince?" Her tail swung from side to side, sweeping across the floor.

"… Serves her right." Bad. Bad sign.

"What?" Etna took her hands off the boy's shoulders, her tail stiffened. "You're not gonna go get her?"

"No. She should learn that this is how we are," he looked away from his vassal, mumbling, "We've been too easy on her." Slapping his cape into the baffled demon-girl's face, he headed toward the double doors located at the front of the room. He stopped – hesitated. He never hesitated, and he wouldn't start now. With that, he opened the doors, said a, "Screw you," to Etna when she began to call out to him, and slammed them shut behind him.

Etna, however, wasn't angry; in fact, she was as pleased as ever. For though the Prince said all those things, though he insisted that it 'serves her right,' and that 'this is how we are,' he failed to notice the white ribbon she'd tied in his hair moments ago, and he'd obviously failed to notice his hair.

"Let's see…" she pulled the ribbon's box out of the pouch on her waist, examining the lid with yet another smirk, "Yellow… Associated with… Worry, mixed emotions, and anxiety."

"Well, Prince…" she twirled the lid on her right pointer-finger, her tail curled around the other, "I'll give you… 10 minutes."

**RED - AGRESSIVE**

She could've said 3 minutes, because Laharl was shouting at the Dimensional Gatekeeper in fury moments later for her irresponsibility and stupidity; he couldn't figure out why, however, the Gatekeeper kept giggling and chuckling, instead of taking him seriously, which only made him angrier. Still, no matter how much he dished out, she eventually broke down to the floor, almost unable to say, "Gate to Stellar Graveyard – prepared and ready" through her laughs.

Whatever, he didn't have time for this; he stepped through the gate, landing in the Stellar Graveyard, sighing as he gazed at the expanse. "Well… This is gonna take a while…"

**BLACK - STRESSED**

He'd been looking for about an hour now, with no tangible sign of Flonne – though the number of demons lying, unconscious, on the ground were encouraging; none were dead, they were simply knocked out, which provided convincing evidence of her work.

"HEY LOVE FREAK! YOU OUT HERE?" he shouted, only hearing his echoes as a reply.

He huffed, and followed the trail of unconscious demons, occasionally kicking one or two around for even _thinking _about touching the Fallen Angel. He could feel his chest tightening with every minute that passed by not knowing where she was; his fist could no longer tame the heart inside his chest. It was there, and Laharl knew it was. He just didn't know when or how it came to exist.

**GRAY - ANXIETY**

"FLONNE!" he called out her name, expecting silence in return.

But then, he heard it.

"… Laharl?" He heard her annoying, high-pitched voice calling out to him in the distance.

**YELLOW – HAPPY**

"Flonne?" he called out; his feet began racing forward without his consent. "Flonne! Where are you?"

"Laharl, what're you doing here?" was her only response.

He ran to her voice, to her, and he didn't stop running until he saw her, standing there, waiting. For some reason, she looked incredibly surprised; this irked him beyond belief.

**RED – AGGRESSIVE**

"What am **I **doing here…? What the hell are YOU doing here?" he shouted angrily.

She gasped and step back, though not at Laharl's shouting; she was used to that. "L-Laharl… Your…"

"YEAH. I'M PISSED!" he said, apparently finishing her sentence. He took her wrist into his hand and tugged her towards him, "C'mon. We're leaving."

"What? Where are we going?" she asked, confused.

"If you're going to go to a stupid, freaking picnic then you should at least take the right stupid, freaking gate," he shouted without facing her, tugging her along as he headed back towards the gate back to the Castle; he didn't want to show his face. It felt hot, and he knew that that meant he didn't want to show her what it looked like, even though he didn't know himself.

"Laharl, stop it! Let me go!" she flicked her wrist, causing him to lose grip.

He stopped – everything in him stopped.

**PINK – FEAR**

"S… S…" he stuttered, but nothing came out. What was this word he was trying to say?

"Uhm… Laharl…" Flonne's voice wavered from behind him.

"S… SOR…" his eyes glued to the floor, he kept stuttering and stuttering. What? What word?

"Laharl, do you know that your ha—!" Flonne began again, but was interrupted when Laharl twirled around to face her, eyes forward:

"SORRY."

Silence.

His eyes fell to the ground once more.

He blinked. Had he really said that? He didn't even know that word was in his vocabulary; then again, this love-freak did crazy things to him – maybe he'd picked it up from her somehow. Such a curse.

A giggle from Flonne caused him to look up.

**RED – AGGRESSIVE**

His face was hot again, but he didn't care this time, "WHA-WHAT'RE YOU GIGGLING ABOUT? THAT'S NOT HOW YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO REACT TO A… AN APOLOGY."

She smiled.

**TURQUOISE – CALM**

"You're right, I'm sorry," she said, stepping closer.

**RED ORANGE – EXCITED**

Delicately, she placed her hand on his shoulder and kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Thank you, Laharl."

His face was hot. Really, really hot.

**YELLOW – HAPPY**

"G-G-G-GET AWAY FROM ME," he pushed her away and rubbed vigorously at his cheek, eyes wide at what the former-Angel had just done – to the Overlord of the Netherworld.

But somehow, he didn't mind it as much as he thought he would.

"A-ANYWAY…" he turned around again, hiding his satisfaction with the series of events, "Let's go."

"Where?" Flonne asked.

"The picnic. You're meeting the humans at Vyers Castle, aren't you?" he asked, turning back towards Flonne, confused.

"No, that's what I was trying to tell you!" Flonne said.

"OH LITTLE LAHARL~!" the seductress's voice. Her disgusting, low, seductive voi—Laharl's thoughts were interrupted by an embrace into her chest. She ignored his frantic movements, "WE HAVEN'T SEEN YOU IN SOOO LONG~! WHEN DID YOU DYE YOUR HAIR?"

… Dye?

**BLACK – STRESSED**

He pried himself out of her grasp and grabbed at his long blu—BLACK TENDRILS.

"WHAT THE F-?"

"Hey everyone!" Etna called out, grinning from a distance with a picnic basket hanging from her arm, "Hope I didn't keep you all waiting too long!"

**RED - AGGRESSIVE**

"YOU." Laharl turned, racing towards her with crazed eyes.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH, I WISH YOU COULD SEE HOW RIDICULOUS YOU LOOK RIGHT NOW," Etna shouted as she ran joyously from the prince's murderous hands.

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU TEN MILLION TIMES OVER FOR THIS!" the young Overlord yelled, revealing his sword and flailing it around in a frenzy.

"Oh… So I'm guessing he didn't actually dye his hair?" Gordon asked, peering from behind Jennifer.

Flonne watched the two demons chase each other; she smiled.

"Well! Since we're all here, why don't we get this picnic started?"


End file.
